State’s Attorney, DuPage County, Illinois
A career prosecutor with over 31 years of experience and counting, Bob Berlin was sworn in as DuPage County State’s Attorney on December 14, 2010, after being appointed to complete the unexpired term of Joseph Birkett. In 2012, 2016, and 2020, Bob was elected to full four-year terms as DuPage County State’s Attorney. He serves as the Chief Law Enforcement Officer for the 2nd largest county in Illinois and leads an office of 87 Assistant State’s Attorneys and 90 support staff and investigators.
Berlin began his career in 1987 as an Assistant State’s Attorney in Cook County. During his tenure in Cook County, Bob’s assignments included the criminal appeals, misdemeanor, felony review, homicide-sexual assault preliminary hearing, child exploitation, and felony trial divisions. In 2001, Bob left the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office opting to continue his career as First Assistant State’s Attorney for the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office. As First Assistant State’s Attorney, Bob managed and supervised the entire Office staff of more than 140 lawyers and support staff.
While in Kane County, Bob developed and implemented new policies including the Community Prosecutions and a Felony Review Unit. Bob also served as Chief of the Priority Prosecutions Unit. In 2004, Bob began working for the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office as Deputy Chief of the Office’s Juvenile Division. During the next several years, Bob was promoted to Deputy Chief of the Felony Trial Division and in April 2010, Chief of the Criminal Bureau, where he supervised all Assistant State’s Attorneys charged with the criminal prosecutions function of the Office.
In his 31-year career as a prosecutor, Bob has tried more than 85 felony jury trials, 55 of which involved first-degree murder. Bob has also tried hundreds of felony bench trials, including more than 50 homicide cases.
Appellate Court Justice, Illinois Appellate Court for the Fourth District
Justice Eugene Doherty graduated summa cum laude from the Northern Illinois University School of Law in 1989. After serving as a law clerk to Honorable Philip G. Reinhard at the Illinois Appellate Court, Justice Doherty engaged in a civil litigation practice in Rockford, Illinois. The Illinois Supreme Court appointed him to the 17th Judicial Circuit Court in 2007, a position to which he was elected in 2008 and retained in 2012 and 2020. He served as chief judge of the 17th Circuit from 2018 through 2021. Justice Doherty is the author of a variety of articles in several legal publications including the Illinois Bar Journal, and he has been an instructor at the Illinois Education Conference multiple times. He serves on several Supreme Court Committees, including serving as chair of the e-Business Policy Advisory Board and vice-chair of the COVID-19 Task Force. In 2022, the Illinois Supreme Court assigned him to the Illinois Appellate Court for the Fourth District.
Chief Policy Counsel, Council on Criminal Justice and Senior Advisor, Right on Crime
Marc A. Levin is the Chief Policy Counsel for the Council on Criminal Justice (counciloncj.org) and Senior Advisor for Right on Crime.
An attorney and accomplished author on legal and public policy issues, Marc began the Foundation’s criminal justice program in 2005. This work contributed to nationally praised policy changes that have been followed by dramatic declines in crime and incarceration in Texas. Building on this success, in 2010, Levin developed the concept for the Right on Crime initiative, a TPPF project in partnership with Prison Fellowship and the American Conservative Union Foundation. Right on Crime has become the national clearinghouse for conservative criminal justice reforms and has contributed to the adoption of policies in dozens of states that fight crime, support victims, and protect taxpayers.
In 2014, Levin was named one of the “Politico 50” in the magazine’s annual “list of thinkers, doers, and dreamers who really matter in this age of gridlock and dysfunction.”
Marc has testified on criminal justice policy on four occasions before Congress and has testified before legislatures in states including Texas, Nevada, Kansas, Wisconsin, and California. He also has met personally with leaders such as U.S. Presidents, Speakers of the House, and the Justice Commtitee of the United Kingdom Parliament to share his ideas on criminal justice reform. In 2007, he was honored in a resolution unanimously passed by the Texas House of Representatives that stated, “Mr. Levin’s intellect is unparalleled and his research is impeccable.”
Since 2005, Marc has published dozens of policy papers on topics such as sentencing, probation, parole, reentry, and overcriminalization which are available on the TPPF website. Levin’s articles on law and public policy have been featured in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Texas Review of Law & Politics, National Law Journal, New York Daily News, Jerusalem Post, Toronto Star, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Philadelphia Inquirer, San Francisco Chronicle, Washington Times, Los Angeles Daily Journal, Charlotte Observer, Dallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle, Austin American-Statesman, San Antonio Express-News and Reason Magazine.
In 1999, Marc graduated with honors from the University of Texas with a B.A. in Plan II Honors and Government. In 2002, Marc received his J.D. with honors from the University of Texas School of Law. Marc was a Charles G. Koch Summer Fellow in 1996. He served as a law clerk to Judge Will Garwood on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and Staff Attorney at the Texas Supreme Court.
Professor, Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology & Co-Director, Center for Criminal Justice, Loyola University Chicago
David Olson is a Professor in the Criminal Justice and Criminology Department at Loyola University Chicago, where he is the Co-Director (with Don Stemen) of Loyola’s interdisciplinary Center for Criminal Justice Research. Previously Dr. Olson served as the Chair of the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, the Director of the Department’s Graduate Program, and as Director of Loyola’s interdisciplinary Forensic Science Program. Dr. Olson currently serves as the Chairperson for the advisory boards of the Illinois Department of Corrections and the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice, and as a member of the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority’s Board through separate gubernatorial appointments. Dr. Olson also currently serves on the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Pretrial Practices Implementation Task Force, the Illinois Department of Human Services’ Firearm Violence Research Group, and the Illinois Pretrial Practices Data Oversight Board.
For nearly 20 years, Dr. Olson worked at the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, where he was the director of Illinois’ Statewide Drug and Violent Crime Control Strategy Impact Evaluation Program and was responsible for overseeing the evaluation and monitoring of federally funded drug control efforts in the State of Illinois. For six years, Dr. Olson served as a Special Assistant to the Cook County Sheriff through a cooperative agreement between Loyola and the Cook County Sheriff’s Office.
David has served as staff to the Illinois Governor’s Task Force on Crime and Corrections (1992-1993), the Illinois Legislative Committee on Juvenile Justice (1994-1996), the Illinois Truth-in-Sentencing Commission (1996-1998), the Illinois Governor’s Community Safety and Prisoner Re-Entry Management Workgroup/Commission (2004-2006), and the Illinois Capital Punishment Reform Study Committee (2007-2010). In 2015 Dr. Olson was appointed as a Commissioner to the Illinois Governor’s Commission on Criminal Justice and Sentencing Reform. Dr. Olson has worked with a variety of federal, state and local agencies to develop and evaluate programs and policies, particularly in the area of community and institutional corrections, during his 35 years in the field of criminal justice.
Dr. Olson has published more than 100 articles, research bulletins and research reports, and has made more than 100 presentations at professional conferences and training symposia. Some of David’s most recent research has been published in The Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, the Journal of Crime and Justice, and by the Duke University School of Law’s Center for Firearms Law.
Dr. Olson received his B.S. in Criminal Justice from Loyola University Chicago, his M.A. in Criminal Justice from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and his Ph.D. in Political Science/Public Policy Analysis from the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he was the recipient of the Assistant United States Attorney General’s Graduate Research Fellowship. In 2015 Dr. Olson received the John Howard Association Outstanding Research Contributions Award, and in 2011 he received the Hans W. Mattick Award for outstanding accomplishments in the field of criminology and criminal justice research from the Illinois Academy of Criminology.
President/CEO, Museum of American Finance
David Cowen, the Museum's President/CEO, has over 20 years experience as a trader on Wall Street, including in the foreign exchange groups at Bankers Trust and Deutsche Bank. The founder of Quasar Capital Partners, a macro hedge fund, Mr. Cowen holds a BA in American history from Columbia College, an MBA from the Wharton School of Business, and an MA and Ph.D. in American history from NYU. He has written extensively on US financial history and is the co-author of Alexander Hamilton on Finance, Credit, and Debt (Columbia University Press, 2018) and Financial Founding Fathers: The Men Who Made America Rich (University of Chicago Press, 2006). He is a founding co-chair of the International Federation of Finance Museums (IFFM) and has served on the Smithsonian Affiliates Advisory Council and the Federal Reserve Board's Centennial Advisory Council.
Professor of Economics, Loyola University Maryland
Thomas DiLorenzo is professor of economics at Loyola University Maryland and a member of the senior faculty of the Mises Institute. He is the author of The Real Lincoln; How Capitalism Saved America; Lincoln Unmasked; Hamilton's Curse; Organized Crime: The Unvarnished Truth About Government; and The Problem with Socialism.
State’s Attorney, DuPage County, Illinois
A career prosecutor with over 31 years of experience and counting, Bob Berlin was sworn in as DuPage County State’s Attorney on December 14, 2010, after being appointed to complete the unexpired term of Joseph Birkett. In 2012, 2016, and 2020, Bob was elected to full four-year terms as DuPage County State’s Attorney. He serves as the Chief Law Enforcement Officer for the 2nd largest county in Illinois and leads an office of 87 Assistant State’s Attorneys and 90 support staff and investigators.
Berlin began his career in 1987 as an Assistant State’s Attorney in Cook County. During his tenure in Cook County, Bob’s assignments included the criminal appeals, misdemeanor, felony review, homicide-sexual assault preliminary hearing, child exploitation, and felony trial divisions. In 2001, Bob left the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office opting to continue his career as First Assistant State’s Attorney for the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office. As First Assistant State’s Attorney, Bob managed and supervised the entire Office staff of more than 140 lawyers and support staff.
While in Kane County, Bob developed and implemented new policies including the Community Prosecutions and a Felony Review Unit. Bob also served as Chief of the Priority Prosecutions Unit. In 2004, Bob began working for the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office as Deputy Chief of the Office’s Juvenile Division. During the next several years, Bob was promoted to Deputy Chief of the Felony Trial Division and in April 2010, Chief of the Criminal Bureau, where he supervised all Assistant State’s Attorneys charged with the criminal prosecutions function of the Office.
In his 31-year career as a prosecutor, Bob has tried more than 85 felony jury trials, 55 of which involved first-degree murder. Bob has also tried hundreds of felony bench trials, including more than 50 homicide cases.
Appellate Court Justice, Illinois Appellate Court for the Fourth District
Justice Eugene Doherty graduated summa cum laude from the Northern Illinois University School of Law in 1989. After serving as a law clerk to Honorable Philip G. Reinhard at the Illinois Appellate Court, Justice Doherty engaged in a civil litigation practice in Rockford, Illinois. The Illinois Supreme Court appointed him to the 17th Judicial Circuit Court in 2007, a position to which he was elected in 2008 and retained in 2012 and 2020. He served as chief judge of the 17th Circuit from 2018 through 2021. Justice Doherty is the author of a variety of articles in several legal publications including the Illinois Bar Journal, and he has been an instructor at the Illinois Education Conference multiple times. He serves on several Supreme Court Committees, including serving as chair of the e-Business Policy Advisory Board and vice-chair of the COVID-19 Task Force. In 2022, the Illinois Supreme Court assigned him to the Illinois Appellate Court for the Fourth District.
Chief Policy Counsel, Council on Criminal Justice and Senior Advisor, Right on Crime
Marc A. Levin is the Chief Policy Counsel for the Council on Criminal Justice (counciloncj.org) and Senior Advisor for Right on Crime.
An attorney and accomplished author on legal and public policy issues, Marc began the Foundation’s criminal justice program in 2005. This work contributed to nationally praised policy changes that have been followed by dramatic declines in crime and incarceration in Texas. Building on this success, in 2010, Levin developed the concept for the Right on Crime initiative, a TPPF project in partnership with Prison Fellowship and the American Conservative Union Foundation. Right on Crime has become the national clearinghouse for conservative criminal justice reforms and has contributed to the adoption of policies in dozens of states that fight crime, support victims, and protect taxpayers.
In 2014, Levin was named one of the “Politico 50” in the magazine’s annual “list of thinkers, doers, and dreamers who really matter in this age of gridlock and dysfunction.”
Marc has testified on criminal justice policy on four occasions before Congress and has testified before legislatures in states including Texas, Nevada, Kansas, Wisconsin, and California. He also has met personally with leaders such as U.S. Presidents, Speakers of the House, and the Justice Commtitee of the United Kingdom Parliament to share his ideas on criminal justice reform. In 2007, he was honored in a resolution unanimously passed by the Texas House of Representatives that stated, “Mr. Levin’s intellect is unparalleled and his research is impeccable.”
Since 2005, Marc has published dozens of policy papers on topics such as sentencing, probation, parole, reentry, and overcriminalization which are available on the TPPF website. Levin’s articles on law and public policy have been featured in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Texas Review of Law & Politics, National Law Journal, New York Daily News, Jerusalem Post, Toronto Star, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Philadelphia Inquirer, San Francisco Chronicle, Washington Times, Los Angeles Daily Journal, Charlotte Observer, Dallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle, Austin American-Statesman, San Antonio Express-News and Reason Magazine.
In 1999, Marc graduated with honors from the University of Texas with a B.A. in Plan II Honors and Government. In 2002, Marc received his J.D. with honors from the University of Texas School of Law. Marc was a Charles G. Koch Summer Fellow in 1996. He served as a law clerk to Judge Will Garwood on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and Staff Attorney at the Texas Supreme Court.
Professor, Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology & Co-Director, Center for Criminal Justice, Loyola University Chicago
David Olson is a Professor in the Criminal Justice and Criminology Department at Loyola University Chicago, where he is the Co-Director (with Don Stemen) of Loyola’s interdisciplinary Center for Criminal Justice Research. Previously Dr. Olson served as the Chair of the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, the Director of the Department’s Graduate Program, and as Director of Loyola’s interdisciplinary Forensic Science Program. Dr. Olson currently serves as the Chairperson for the advisory boards of the Illinois Department of Corrections and the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice, and as a member of the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority’s Board through separate gubernatorial appointments. Dr. Olson also currently serves on the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Pretrial Practices Implementation Task Force, the Illinois Department of Human Services’ Firearm Violence Research Group, and the Illinois Pretrial Practices Data Oversight Board.
For nearly 20 years, Dr. Olson worked at the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, where he was the director of Illinois’ Statewide Drug and Violent Crime Control Strategy Impact Evaluation Program and was responsible for overseeing the evaluation and monitoring of federally funded drug control efforts in the State of Illinois. For six years, Dr. Olson served as a Special Assistant to the Cook County Sheriff through a cooperative agreement between Loyola and the Cook County Sheriff’s Office.
David has served as staff to the Illinois Governor’s Task Force on Crime and Corrections (1992-1993), the Illinois Legislative Committee on Juvenile Justice (1994-1996), the Illinois Truth-in-Sentencing Commission (1996-1998), the Illinois Governor’s Community Safety and Prisoner Re-Entry Management Workgroup/Commission (2004-2006), and the Illinois Capital Punishment Reform Study Committee (2007-2010). In 2015 Dr. Olson was appointed as a Commissioner to the Illinois Governor’s Commission on Criminal Justice and Sentencing Reform. Dr. Olson has worked with a variety of federal, state and local agencies to develop and evaluate programs and policies, particularly in the area of community and institutional corrections, during his 35 years in the field of criminal justice.
Dr. Olson has published more than 100 articles, research bulletins and research reports, and has made more than 100 presentations at professional conferences and training symposia. Some of David’s most recent research has been published in The Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, the Journal of Crime and Justice, and by the Duke University School of Law’s Center for Firearms Law.
Dr. Olson received his B.S. in Criminal Justice from Loyola University Chicago, his M.A. in Criminal Justice from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and his Ph.D. in Political Science/Public Policy Analysis from the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he was the recipient of the Assistant United States Attorney General’s Graduate Research Fellowship. In 2015 Dr. Olson received the John Howard Association Outstanding Research Contributions Award, and in 2011 he received the Hans W. Mattick Award for outstanding accomplishments in the field of criminology and criminal justice research from the Illinois Academy of Criminology.
E. Claiborne Robins Distinguished Chair in Law, University of Richmond School of Law
Professor Kurt Lash teaches and writes about constitutional law. Founder and director of the Richmond Program on the American Constitution, Professor Lash has published widely on the subjects of constitutional law and constitutional history, including The Fourteenth Amendment and the Privileges or Immunities of American Citizenship (Cambridge University Press, 2014), The Lost History of the Ninth Amendment (Oxford University Press, 2009), and The American First Amendment in the Twenty-first Century: Cases and Materials(with William W. Van Alstyne) (5th ed., Foundation Press, 2014). An elected member of the American Law Institute, Professor Lash’s work has appeared in numerous legal journals including the Stanford Law Journal, Georgetown Law Journal, Virginia Law Review, andNotre Dame Law Review. He has been a visiting professor at Northwestern University School of Law and is the former director of the University of Illinois College of Law Program in Constitutional Theory, History, and Law.
Instructor of Accounting, University of Central Florida College of Business
Professor F. E. Guerra-Pujol was born in Los Angeles, Calif., to Francisco Guerra and Oilda Pujol. He attended college at the University of California at Santa Barbara, graduating with highest honors, and received his Juris Doctorate from Yale Law School. After practicing business law for several years, Professor Guerra-Pujol began his academic career at the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico. He is currently teaching at the University of Central Florida. His areas of research include markets, property rights and the philosophy of law. He is also the author of many scholarly papers, journal articles and book chapters, including “Gödel’s Loophole,” “A Bayesian Model of Litigation” and “The Poker-Litigation Game.” You can access his work here:
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=649450
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